There seems little doubt that rugby has reached a period of virtual hibernation. The Clifford Cup knockout tournament is to start soon after the league had to be postponed to a latter date due to involvement and some grounds being not available with the requirements of SAARC taking precedence.

What is left thereafter is for the National team to get ready for their matches for the five nations series due to be played in Taiwan. In the meanwhile, there will be the Kandy Sevens in September and the Hong Kong Sevens. The juniors are due to play in the Junior Asiad.

Irish referee Alan Lewis. Referees now will have get adjusted to the new rules.

It is most important for preparation to meet the challenges, which are ahead in the Asian circuit? Important would be to take the National Team as well as the Junior team forward considering that the players would have had only a limited exposure to the new laws. Let alone players neither coaches nor referees would have very much exposure. It is significant that there were discussions on the laws, which were limited to the referees who would referee the knockouts. There was also a discussion organized for by the SLRFU for the clubs. Interestingly only one coach turned up. Yet when one comes to the matches there will be many who will take the referee to task.

As we approach the five nations, the senior side will have the experience of a few matches in the knock out while the juniors may not have anything as they get ready for the Junior Asiad in November.
Thirteen of the Law changes, which have been experimented now, come in as experimental variations and will be implemented globally. This is as a result The International Rugby Board council deciding to introduce a yearlong global trial of 13 changes to the laws of the game, beginning August this year.
The trial of the Experimental Law Variations for a 12-month period starting on August 1 this year at all levels of the game will involve 13 of the 23 ELVs that have been undergoing experimentation in various tournaments around the world over the last two years. The changes could "fundamentally change the nature of the game" Changes being trialed worldwide include the following in summary.

ASSISTANT REFEREES AND CORNERS POSTS
1. Assistant Referees are able to assist referees in any way, which the referee requires.
2. The corner posts are no longer considered to be in touch in-goal except when the ball is grounded against the post. R
LINEOUT AND THROW
3. A team puts the ball back into their own 22 and the ball is subsequently kicked directly into touch there is no gain in ground
4. A quick throw may be thrown in straight or towards the throwing team’s own goal line.
5. There is no restriction on the number of players who can participate in the lineout from either side
6. The receiver at the lineout must be two metres back away from the lineout.
7. The player who is in opposition to the player throwing in the ball must stand in the area between the five-meter line and touchline but must be two meters away from the lineout.
8. Lineout players may pre-grip a jumper before the ball is thrown in.
9. The lifting of lineout jumpers is permitted.
MAUL
10. A player’s head and shoulders can now be lower than the hips.
11. Players are able to defend a maul by pulling it down.
SCRUM
12. The offside line for players who are not in the scrum and who are not the team’s halfback is five meters behind the hindmost foot of the scrum.13. The halfback has offside lines they must adhere to.
Taking out from the above I believe the following has an impact on the game and will change the face of the game somewhat. ‘Players can defend a maul by pulling it down.’ Introduction of an offside line five meters behind the hindmost feet of the scrum. ‘No restriction on the number of players who can participate in the lineout from either side (minimum of two). ‘ The receiver in a lineout must stand two meters back from the lineout.

Also significant will be the restrictions that are brought in the kicking from the twenty two. Unless and of course we get things right and work on them we may see more aimless kicking to get out of jail as my friend Chandrishan would have said. This has been true in most parts of the world where the laws were trialed prior to being implemented.

In a survey done in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand among players it was found that the laws were positively accepted. Let us too get on with it and see how the game flows in these parts. May be some would think that it is about the referee being fit while it is about the game taking a fundamental change.

• Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB